Theorizing Online Information Credibility among Teenagers

Abstract

The society seems very hard to choose authentic and usable information with the right sources. It is maybe due to not knowing in determining precise and accurate information. The purpose of the study is to develop a model of online information credibility, which will provide the society with a guide to evaluation criteria to judge the credibility of online information use in their daily lives. The outcome also will able to facilitate government to educate society on how to use the information ethically to prevent misuse and misinterpret information that might affect national security. This paper postulated two objectives: i) to identify the evaluation criteria to justify the credibility of online information that able to provide trust among society in Malaysia (ii) to establish a framework on online information credibility among teenagers. Consequently, the study pursues to extend establish the theory by forming a model consisting variables which focus on young people’s (a) social interaction, (b) cognitive status, and (c) identify/value negotiation and information creation during their contact with information. The proposed study adopted The Radical Change theory yielded a new model that will help understand youth information-related activities as a whole and their interrelationships. This study not just focus of personal routines or search sessions isolated from the context, but also to come out with a guide to help youth in choosing authentic and credible information. Keyword: Library and Information Management, Information Credibility, Information sharing, Social Media Introduction The explosion of information either in the internet or news, the of trustworthiness, credibility as well as believably is severe. Contrasting with the ordinary news that has been validate and check by the editorial, the online news and information come from various sources either reliable or unreliable sources. Anyone who stay connect and access on the internet could post any kinds of information without checking and validating its data. As a result, rumour may end up in the news online and this kind of behavior could disturb its credibility and believability of information. Hassan et al. (2019) state the central problem that always occurs by the user in searching the information in the World Wide International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 0 , No. 11, 2020, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2020 HRMARS 518 Web is trustworthy of information that user access from creation. For example, the current global pandemic, which is COVID19, there are much fake news and false information has been spread in no time. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Health warned the public regarding spread fake and unverified information on COVID19 when the disseminate of viral message on the particular areas should be avoided. Still, it is falsely claimed because the Ministry of Health already detects earlier (The Strait Times, 2020). The reader of online news could unable to identify fact from fiction and may admit the online cintent as the things that unquestionable true. Actually, it is necessary to assessing the perception of reader regarding issues on credibility and trustworthiness of information and to examine whether they genuinely believe on what they read without concern on the credibility of the information itself. In Malaysia, there is limited literature related to information credibility. Hence, this study intends to fulfil the stark gap by adopting the radical change theory to assess the youth information behaviour on online information to examine the evaluation criteria of information credibility. Radical change theory frequently uses in research related to Information Technology (IT) use such in the process of IT transformation, an associate of social integration and political-economic solution. This theory is based on the digital age principles of interactivity, connectivity and access are connected to understanding the significant changes in the digital age. It is expanded in this study through the creation of characteristics that address how youth think and assess the credibility of online information itself. According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (2018), Internet users in Malaysia, approximately is 87.4%, and most of them is a teenager. Nevertheless, no guideline could help them to ascertain accurate and reliable information and also exact and reliable sources. With this number of the internet population, the study on online information credibility is significant to the country. Therefore,this study would like to focus on youths because the most devoted and enthusiastic internet user as well as frequently absorb the online news rather than printed medium. This research relates to the government policy of No.9 or the 12 NKEA (National Key Economic Areas), i.e. the communications contents and infrastructure. The framework for Information Credibility resulted from this research can be used by policymakers at The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and federal level as a guideline for future decision making on information used for the public and society. Due to The Communications Content and Infrastructure (CCI) sector extents, a widespread ecosystem is covering network, content, applications, services and devices. Government through internet application can be served to the public such as disseminating information, policy, services and so on. Based on the comprehensive framework which will be developed to facilitate the society to search, analyze, and evaluate the right and accurate information. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to come out with the appropriate framework of online information credibility of teenagers that could be used by other researchers, academician or information practitioner as reference for future research. Literature Review There is a various definition of credibility. In common, the scholarly examination of credibility is possibly amongst the oldest lines in communication research (Griffin, 2009; Liu, 2003). The research on credibility has a long history and has been interdisciplinary. In sum, different researchers or scholar exploited different definitions of credibility. Commonly, credibility is defined as the authenticity of the information. Society’s view the credibility based on numerous different concepts International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 0 , No. 11, 2020, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2020 HRMARS 519 such as objectivity, accuracy, reliability and timeliness. They rely on diverse cues of the source, social reputation, area and knowledge. To which degree of a credibility signal is used depends strongly on the decision-making condition. People seek information for a variety of purposes, especially for power, for comfort, for learning something new, and for knowledge to act and solve problems. However, not all online information is reliable and useful to users. Viewers must filter out the information received, it is not enough to simply receive and store the information without distinguishing between useful information and vice versa (Asad and Sri Devi, 2014; Wathen and Burkell, 2002). Credibility defines as a judgment made by a receiver concerning the believability of a talker (O'Keefe, 1990, pp. 130-131). Many rely on the above discussion; hence the definition should also appropriate to be used in organization as well as individuals (Gass and Seiter, 2007). This description helps to reveal that credibility is a very complex concept, interdependent on many factors, and encompasses multiple dimension (Eisend 2006; Burgoon, Burgoon and Wilkinson, 1981). From another point of view, Garrison (2003) stimulated that the study of credibility is aspired by the component of individual attitudes towards technologies. Therefore, the need for research on credibility is due to the emergence of communication technology as the information received becomes increasingly difficult for the recipient to trust (Sbaffi and Rowley, 2017; Eggg et al., 2001; Tseng and Egg, 1999). Studies on credibility constantly start when a different medium of sharing information arises; it effects on existing media (Liu, 2003). It has started long back when people worries in the newspaper industry. Then, the number of people increase to change to radio for news and the people depend on television for news and as a result arising number of studies on credibility as a medium in deliver news (Johnson, Kaye and Barbara, 2015). Nowadays, the arrival of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) especially internet is influence on our everyday life (Eastin, 2001; Bhalla (2019). Since the 1980s, the development of the Internet has been tremendous growth as compared to any other communications medium. The evolution even faster than the development of the radio, television, telephone, or even cellular telephones (Cascio and Montealegre, 2016; Fogg et al., 2001). The main reason of the growth most probably because of vast support of the development of Internet technologies, the fast acceptance of Internet usage among public and the better administration of Internet resources (Alivi, Ghazali, Tamam, & Osman, 2018). The concept of credibility has revived significant attention as soon as the Internet emerged and began providing a platform of communication in an interactive environment of content in the internet allowed users to searching and seeking information and interact with others in many ways possible (Hilligoss & Rieh, 2008). Moreover, the existence of the Internet in the communication boosts up the method of delivering information by offering interactive support everywhere in the world, and Malaysia is no exception (Omar 2017). Distribution and growing dependence on the Internet has also inspired researchers to study the credibility of online news in comparison to traditional media around the globe in the diverse area of specialization